How will people know you're wealthy enough to afford a Leica, if they can't see the iconic red dot? I suppose those-in-the-know will assume its absence meant you spent $1,995 upgrading it to be like their new M9-P, which foregoes the red dot for photographers' safety.

Apparently this papercraft Leica M3 actually works when loaded with film, and as designer Matthew Nicholson plans to upload a tutorial at some point, you can put that to the test. Just don't take it swimming. [Matthew Nicholson via Photojojo]

How do you make the beautiful, expensive Leica M9 even more beautiful and more expensive? Why, you add sapphire glass, chrome, and the tanned hide of a brown ostrich. Why does stunning always have to come at such a price?

There's only one digital camera I haven't shot that I'm dying to get my hands on: the Leica M9. This is how Leica puts the $7000 digital rangefinder together. Watch closely for the artsy dust. [YouTube via A Continuous Lean]

Say what you will about Leica's ultra-niche marketing, stratospheric prices and romantic insistence on keeping 50-year-old product designs—their cameras have always been beautiful, and felt like tanks. In this respect, the M9 and X1 don't disappoint.

Last week's leak couldn't have been more on: Leica's officially announced the their full-frame followup to the retro-fabulous M8, as well as some chum for more mainstream users, in the form of the APS-C-sensored X1 compact, for new Leica recruits.

A supposed shot of Leica's M9—expected to be announced 9/9/09—complete with specs, was found on this Flickr page that's now locked, and it looks way interesting: a full-frame 18-megapixel CCD sensor. Oh, and what's this, the Leica X1?

Hardcore photo geeks know that Leica's M9 is supposedly due out on 09/09/09 (exactly one 9 less cool than the Sega Dreamcast's release). Now the company's second digital offering has been captured in several blurry shots from a promo.